Jackal Stone11 kicks off in Romania
Related Topics (5)
More related topics
MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU AIRBASE, Romania – Special operations forces personnel from nine partner nations came together for the opening ceremony of Jackal Stone 11 held Sept. 17 at the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, Romania.
Jackal Stone, hosted this year by Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine, is an annual multinational special operations forces (SOF) exercise coordinated by U.S. Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR). With 1,400 SOF and support enablers from Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania and Ukraine participating, Jackal Stone is the largest SOF exercise of its kind in Europe.
Welcoming the participants on behalf of the Romania Ministry of Defense to his homeland, Maj. Gen. Illie Botos, the Chief of Romanian Intelligence Directorate, thanked members of the formation for coming to train together and strengthen their relationships.
Romania has participated in the annual event since its inception in 2008, which Botos highlighted during his remarks.
“For Romanian Special Operations Forces, Jackal Stone was and still is the perfect tool to build the required capabilities and achieve interoperability between the participating forces,” Botos said. “Jackal Stone has become critically important for national SOF development that meets North Atlantic Treaty Organization standards of interoperability.”
Botos added that lessons identified and learned from his country’s participation in Jackal Stone has been beneficial in developing SOF capabilities, combat readiness and the ability to prepare, plan, conduct and assess full spectrum SOF specific missions.
After graciously thanking all of the hosts of this year’s event, Army Maj. Gen. Michael S. Repass, SOCEUR commander, remarked on the significance of the training exercise.
“Today’s ceremony culminates a year of planning and begins a week of exceptional training and cooperation,” said. Repass. “Jackal Stone allows us to place special emphasis on our ability and desire to train with each other during those times and demonstrates our resolve to rise to challenges we will certainly face together.”
Repass particularly emphasized how this year’s rendition of Jackal Stone features some very important firsts for the exercise.
“It will be the first time we will have four tactical operating locations. This adds another layer of complexity to this exercise’s command and control relationships, but is very realistic in what we have experienced,” said Repass.
Another change for this years exercise, Repass explained, is how the exercise planners moved to a combined joint force special operations component command framework, which will better align their processes with NATO.
Other firsts for Jackal Stone 11 include: incorporating changeable tactical scenarios and using forensic-enabled intelligence to positively identify targets.
“We are certainly building on last year’s success,” said Repass.
After the ceremony, the official party observed a live-tactical demonstration conducted by a maritime Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) consisting of Naval SOF from Norway, Romania, Ukraine and the U.S. at the Constanta Military Harbor.
The demonstration featured the SOTG fast-roping from a Romanian Puma IAR330 helicopter and conducting a Vehicle, Board, Search and Seizure operation from rigid inflatable boats on board a Romanian ship to clear the ship of enemy targets.
Find more articles tagged with:
-
Bulgarian president, senior military leaders visit multinational exercise in Germany
The President of the Republic of Bulgaria visited the Joint Multinational Readiness Center at Hohenfels Training Area to observe Bulgarian Special Forces training during exercise Saber Junction, Oct 19.Find more articles tagged with:
-
Reception Hosted Aboard USS Enterprise
Enterprise has a long relationship with the people of Naples. The carrier made its first ever port visit to the city during its maiden deployment in 1962.Find more articles tagged with:
-
US, Israel prep for largest ballistic missile defense bi-lateral exercise
Senior leaders for the exercise Austere Challenge 2012 announced the arrival of U.S. troops and equipment in Israel for the event and provided background to reporters via telephone Wednesday from Ramstein Air Base, Germany.Find more articles tagged with:
-
Saber Junction tests U.S., partners’ interoperability
Approximately 1,800 forces from 18 European nations train for the post-Afghanistan fight using the U.S. Army’s most-current doctrine for unified land operations. At the Grafenwoehr Training Area, also called GTA, and Hohenfels Training Area, or HTA, and more than 1,300 square miles in-between installation facilities 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, also known as 2CR, engages a complex enemy.Find more articles tagged with:
-
Despite the cold: U.S. military partnerships key to Arctic crisis response
The scenario used during SAREX 2012— a multinational exercise held recently in Greenland’s eastern sea – tested military and civilian capabilities for search and rescue missions above the Arctic Circle. Meanwhile, during exercise Northern Eagle, a U.S. Navy destroyer joined Russian and Norwegian vessels in the Barents Seas to prepare for similar rescues, plus anti-piracy operations and joint air defense.Find more articles tagged with:
-
Civic leaders receive preview of Baumholder's future
Leaders of the U.S. Army Garrison Baumholder, the 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and local civic leaders came together for a garrison hosted civic leaders working luncheon recently in the Rheinlander Community Club to discuss issues affecting the military and civilian communities.Find more articles tagged with:
-
USACE forward engineers train with Italians
A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Forward Engineering Support Team-Advance (FEST-A) conducted training and remote engineering missions in partnership with Italian Army Reconnaissance Engineers here September 9-21, 2012.Find more articles tagged with:
-
EIAMDC officially opens
The Warrior Preparation Center opened the European Integrated Air and Missile Defense Center with a ribbon cutting ceremony here Sept. 26.Find more articles tagged with:
-
Exercise Jackal Stone 2012 leaders, participants honor fallen SF comrade
Military members and civilians from the U.S. and Croatia honored the late Master Sgt. Ivica Jerak, a member of U.S. Army Special Operations Command, with a small memorial service held in his native town of Debeljak, Croatia, Sept. 22, 2012.Find more articles tagged with:
-
Ceremony ends 18th Combined Endeavor
On Sept. 20, a closing ceremony at the Joint Military Training Command on U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr, Germany, ended the 18th year of the world’s largest military communications exercise, Combined Endeavor 2012.Find more articles tagged with:
Comments: 0